Page 5 of The Dragon King's Curse
FERYN
By the time we reached the place where the rest of the fae waited on the edge of our border, my feet were tired and my body ached. The vampire bite in my neck had ceased to bleed. The wound, however, remained sore and painful.
I was incredibly disappointed to find Miranda among the captured. She and another elf, Sabin, sat on the ground, surrounded by fae warriors. There were two vampires as well. All of them wore iron shackles on their wrists to prevent them from using their magick. Within moments of arriving, I too wore iron shackles.
The man with black eyes shoved me down next to Miranda. “Don’t get too comfortable. We’ll be leaving soon.”
“Are you all right?” I whispered to Miranda and Sabin.
She pressed her lips tight together, shaking her head. “I’m a complete failure. I was supposed to lead us. Instead, I got over half our people killed. Your father was wrong to appoint me as leader of the squad.”
“No, he wasn’t. None of this is your fault, Miranda. You had no way of knowing we would be ambushed by both vampires and fae during the night. We had no idea the fae were on our lands. This isn’t all on you.” I did my best to reassure her. Fromthe dejected expression on her face, it did nothing to ease her mind.
“Buck up there, girl,” Sabin added “You’ve done an impeccable job leading the squad. We all knew what kind of danger we faced when we joined. It’s part of the job. No sense beating yourself up over things out of your control.”
Miranda nodded but said nothing. She absently rubbed a smear of blood out of her eye. A wound on her forehead continued to drip down, obscuring her vision. All three of us were a mess of injuries. Valid proof that none of us had done anything less than our best.
Once every fae warrior had returned, they got us up onto our feet, surrounding us from every side. At least thirty fae escorted us as we crossed the border. We trudged along, leaving the Earth Realm behind.
The fae often travelled by using portals to help them quickly move from one location to another. They were unable to open a portal in the Earth Realm which meant we had to enter The Seam beyond the border.
My boots grew heavier with every step. As the adrenaline faded, every injury throbbed and ached until my focus was dominated by pain. Miranda walked along beside me, her head held high. She didn’t speak to either Sabin or me. Even though she refused to show weakness, on the inside she seemed to have given up.
If this entire ordeal was anyone’s fault, it was mine. They’d come looking for me. For the elven princess. Maybe I had no business acting as a warrior. If I’d been shut up inside my family’s castle where my father thought I belonged, this never would have happened.
I’d never been that kind of princess though. To me it was a ridiculous title. I’d never wanted to flounce around the castle in frilly dresses being waited on hand and foot. I wanted to beoutside with my friends, exploring the forest with Leif. Getting my hands dirty as I strengthened my bond with the earth.
Because of that I had endangered my companions, and now many of them were dead.
We left the Earth Realm behind and right away I felt the magick of my homeland slip away. The unclaimed land of The Seam felt different. Like I didn’t belong there. The air didn’t smell as fresh and crisp. The ground beneath me felt foreign and unfamiliar. Unknowable.
I wasn’t sure how much further we had to go. The two vampires seemed to be in worse shape than we were. One of them was missing an eye. The other walked with a brutal limp that made him fall behind. Every time he slowed the rest of us down, the fae beat him.
Part of me wanted to snap at them that they were doing nothing to hurry this along. Every time they paused to beat on the lagging vampire, they only made him move slower. I bit my tongue, knowing nothing good would come from speaking up. There was no reason to rush. I had no desire to reach the Shadow Realm any sooner than necessary.
The trees began to thin. They weren’t nearly as full or filled with life as in my realm. Eventually, we came to a dirt path. When we reached the end of the path, I noticed a large symbol carved into the dirt surrounded by a circle. Made up of swirls and slashes, it was a mark I did not recognize. A fae mark.
“Line up inside the circle. Not everyone travels well through the portals. You may feel unwell. It will likely pass, should you survive the trip.” The black-eyed monster pushed the limping vampire forward, laughing as he fell inside the circle. With a sweeping gesture, he motioned for the rest of us to join him.
That’s when Sabin made a grave mistake. Drawing a hidden dagger from within his long braid, he plunged it deepinto the neck of the fae closest to him. Then he ran like the gods themselves gave chase, back in the direction we’d come from.
The fae were quick to respond. He was immediately caught with a magickal barrier created by one of them. They showed him no mercy. Miranda and I looked on in horror as our companion was brutally slain. A dagger was driven deep into his abdomen, spilling his insides out all over the dirt road. As the light faded from Sabin’s eyes, he fell to his knees and then face down in the mess.
I sucked in a sharp breath, willing myself not to scream. Next to me, Miranda watched in cold silence, her expression revealing no emotion.
“The fool,” she murmured.
Black Eyes shook his head and chuckled. “Does anyone else want to try something stupid?”
Not one of us made a move or said a word. We were ushered inside the circle, leaving Sabin’s remains behind.
Try as I might not to glance back, I couldn’t help myself. Why did he do that? Desperation I supposed. Many warriors would rather succumb to the fight than be taken prisoner by the enemy. On some level, I understood that. Yet I would fight until my last breath to stay alive, no matter what they did to me.
The fae filled the circle with us. One of them moved to the center, raising a hand as he called upon his magick. The symbol within the circle glowed a pale green. My stomach began to twist and turn. I grew disoriented and dizzy, clutching onto Miranda to stay upright. She tightly grasped my hand in hers, the first sign of fear that she’d shown.
A strange sensation gripped me, like being turned upside down and then right side up again. My vision blurred, and I blinked furiously to clear it. When I could see again, I found that we stood in the middle of a large grassy area. A massivegray castle stood in the distance, looming over us like a sentient being.
Rolling hills surrounded the castle. The roar of water in the distance indicated a river or sea on the other side of the massive structure. Most likely the Iron Horse Sea. It was located on the far eastern shores of the Shadow Realm.
